Jewelry and its manufacturing have changed little over the years. To manufacture a ring, for example, molten metal is generally poured into a mold to form the ring. Jewelry is manufactured using a vast selection of different metals, stones, shapes, sizes, and designs. Furthermore, every individual has his/her own tastes and preferences for any of the metals, stones, shapes, or other design parameters.
Consumers often desire to wear inexpensive precious metal jewelry, which has an appearance of an expensive solid jewelry piece.
Natural materials, e.g., flowers, leaves, bark, roots and herbs, in combination with polymers permitting molding of precise forms, have also been used to manufacture jewelry. Additionally, copolymers, such as epoxy, have been utilized in jewelry manufacturing. Epoxy is a copolymer formed from two different chemicals, i.e., a resin and a hardener.